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Giveaway! May 18, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Saba, Thoughts, Utah , 11comments

Hey you!  Yeah you!  Looking at my blog on your monitor!

We’re friends, I’m sure of it.  Even if I don’t know you.  (At least I think we are because you’re reading this.)

Here’s the thing, our relationship has been so one way.  I’m always talking, and you’re always listening.

ALWAYS listening.

Come on,  you want to say something sometimes.  Right?

I know you do.

One way conversations are SO BORING!

So, here’s the thing, speak up!

Yeah you!  Reading this right now!

It has come to my attention by many readers that you may not know how to say something.

Several of you have sent me emails expressing your suppressed frustration with not knowing how to comment.

Well, I’m here to clear things up.

My blog layout is a little different from other blogs.

I know the most logical place to look to leave a comment it at the END of a blog post, but what can I say?  I like to switch things up.  I like to keep my readers guessing and confused.  I guess.

On my blog, if you look at the TOP of the post, you will see the categories for the post and NUMBER of COMMENTS.

It’s really that simple.  Just click on COMMENTS, and you will have the floor to say what ever you want, for how ever long you want.

When writing a comment, the field asks for your name, email, and web address if you have one.  Here’s the break down:

Simple, right?

So speak up now!

Leave me a comment!  I want to know who you are!  Since we’re friends and all, you should at least say, “hi!”  Tell me what your wearing, where you’re from, what you like to do, or what you like to eat.  Heck, just leave a comment saying, “I read the dang post.”

That will do.

As a thanks for making this a two-way conversation, I’m having a GIVEAWAY!

It’s not a typical giveaway contest because EVERYONE wins!  Really!  I’m posting high resolution downloads of Saba.  Want a new screen saver?  Desk top photo?   A cruise ship on your bathroom wall?

Please take.

To download a picture using Mozilla Firefox, simply right click on the picture then select, “Save Link As” and select where you want to save it.  To download a picture using Internet Explorer, you also right click on the picture and then select, “Save Target As” and select where you want to save the file.  There you have it!  (You could even comment to say which picture you like.  Totally easy!)

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Saba Rainbow

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Saba Sunset

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Saba Sunrise

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Saba Runway

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Saba Cruise Ship

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Islands off Saba

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View of Saba Villages

I look forward to hearing from you!

Sporting a C-Collar May 16, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Friends, Saba , 1 comment so far

Some of you may have heard about my friend, Coleen, and her wrestle with death.

She escaped with a hangman’s fracture on her vertebrae.  If you think that’s bad, you should have heard what happened to “death.”

Death did not survive.

Under STRICT doctor’s orders, (meaning her and her husband’s orders since they are officially doc’s now) she is taking it easy.

Living up it up on the most kick back island on the planet, Saba.

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I asked her to send me a picture of her frolicking on the beach in her sexy C-collar (she’ll be sporting this awesome neck brace for the next three months).

I am 90% happy for her to be relaxing in the Caribbean, and 90% jealous.

(I know those percentages don’t add up.  I’m not known for my “mathlete skills” you know.)

Doesn’t Co make this C-Collar look glamorous?  Like a rockin’ choker or something?

I think so.

May the Saba sun heal all her aliments.

Shooting in HDR May 15, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Asia, Photography , 5comments

Recently, I was looking at some photos on Flickr and came across some pictures my friend took.

I WAS AMAZED.

He took this picture of the London, England LDS Temple.

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Amazing, right?

Turns out, he used a technique called High Dynamic Range (or just HDR).  Because I had never heard of this technique, I thought it was new.  (I’m so obnoxious.  Obviously it must be new if I’ve never heard of it because I’m so in the know, you know?)

Check out more pictures from him on Flickr.

This is the tutorial he recommended to learn how to shoot in HDR.  Basically, in basic Emily language, this is how you do it:

I haven’t tried this technique yet (because you actually have to plan to shoot this way by taking three consecutive pictures at different exposures and merging them, and I don’t have Photomatix . . .) but I can’t wait!

Trey Ratcliff, the photographer who teaches the HDR tutorial, is AMAZING.  He’s been all over the world, photographing it the way he sees it.  Not they way a regular point and shoot sees it.

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This is Hong Kong.  Honestly, every time I try to describe how ginormous the city is, I can’t do it adequately.  “It’s ten times bigger than NYC!”  Is my “go to” explanation.  But really, how big is NYC?  HUGE.  Right?  So Hong Kong must be HUGER!  :)   Okay, I have no idea, but it is huge, and beautiful.  This is exactly how I remember it.  Not the very sad way my point and shoot captured it.

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This is the skyline across the harbor from Kowloon.  I’ve been on this ferry to see the city lights at night and I loved it.

In 40 years, when my husband is out of medical school and we have an income, we’re going to Hong Kong.

And I’m going to shop like there’s no tomorrow.

And I’m going to take pictures like these.

And he’s going to golf.

And I can’t wait!

Lessons From the Heartland May 14, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Kansas, Parenthood, Princess Hannah , 3comments

In Kansas, we believe in raising future farmers.

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Most kids around the country ride tricycles, big wheels, or bikes.

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In farm country, kids ride on small tractors.

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It’s a great way to meet future farmers other kids.

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And we teach them to pet goats,

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to stare at goats,

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and to try not to be afraid of goats.

Lessons from the Heartland.

Lash Extensions, are They Worth it? May 13, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Princess Hannah , 5comments

Last week I talked about my future eyelash extension splurge.

I am rethinking that . . .

These lashes are real.

They are a real pain too.

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Everyday, (and I mean everyday) one of these beautiful lashes goes rogue.  They fall out and position themselves into the most precarious spots on Hannah’s eye.

(I think I just gave her naughty eyelashes a personality.)

These long lashes make my little one cry sometimes.

That makes me sad.

Now I’m contemplating whether or not I should go to all the trouble to get extensions if they’re just going to fall out and poke me in the eye.

It is worth the trouble?

I’ll think about this over the next 20 years.  I won’t be able to afford them before that.

You Can’t Run and You Can’t Hide May 12, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Thoughts , 8comments

I have this fear of looking old. I don’t mind getting older, I just don’t want to look OLD.

Aging is no respecter of persons.  I know that.

But . . .

I think people fall into three aging categories:

Last night, David and I watched “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”  I was so distracted by the aged Julie Ormond who plays the daughter in the movie, I hardly noticed the ugly little baby!

This is Julie Ormond in 1995 when she played Sabrina:

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This is her 14 years later . . .

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SHE IS 44 YEARS OLD!  (I think she looks WAY OLDER than that!)

Men are not immune to this either . . .

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Val Kilmer

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Brendan Fraser

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Richard Gere

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Arnold Schwarzenegger

I’m upping my nightime facial routine and slathering on the 50 sunblock this summer!  My sister Jenn is just as paranoid as I am about looking old.  She’s concoting a night cream that will be nothing short of wonderous.  I have high hopes that this “exixir” will stop me from aging!

“Indoctrinated” May 11, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Medical School, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah , 4comments

Hannah: “Mommy, do you have a sternal notch?”

Me: “What?”  (think, think, think!  What is she talking about?  I have a sternum, I think.)

Hannah: “Mine’s right here!”  (pointing to a spot on her neck)

Me: “Oh! You do!  That’s great!”  (what the heck is a sternal notch and why does she care?)

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Because her dad and his doctor friends “indoctrinate” her as much as they can.

Some “indoctrination” overheard this week:

She’s teaching me a thing or two.

Barren Awareness Day May 8, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Church, Family, Infertility, Parenthood, Thoughts , 5comments

Have you ever been single on Valentine’s Day?

Think hard.  Back to the days before you met your spouse, or significant other.  (Some of you may be very lucky, and the only time you didn’t have a Valentine was in Junior High, but the rest of us . . . well . . . I’m sure there were a few years without a Valentine . . . )

Do you remember how you felt?  Seeing your friends blissfully in love, opening thoughtful gifts, reading gushy love letters and eating chocolate?

Valentine’s day to the unattached person is known as “Single Awareness Day.”

This Sunday is Mother’s Day.  For years, (and I mean years) I met this day with sadness and anger.  For many, Mother’s Day is a day you recognize your mother, or you are recognized as a mother.  As a mother, you find joy in your children, and realize the only reason you have children is because you are a mother.

See, everything goes hand in hand.

For many women, this Sunday, Mother’s Day, is a reminder that their oven is empty.  To the childless woman, Mother’s Day is known as “Barren Awareness Day.”

I always dreaded going to church on Mother’s Day.  364 days a year, no one notices that you come to church without children.  On Mother’s Day, it’s like you arrive with a blinking neon sign that says “I’m not really a mother.  But recognize me because I’m married.”

Awkward.

Actually, what I really wanted my invisible neon sign to say is, “Please don’t recognize me.  It’s GLARINGLY obvious I don’t fit in.  Thanks.”

So year, after year, after year, after year, after year, after year, after year, after year, (yes, there were eight years of this awkwardness)  I would arrive to church with a smile on my face, hiding the pain that cut so deeply.

I wanted to be a mother.

Did the Lord think I was unfit?

Why, then, was I not blessed with children?

I will never know the answers to these questions.

But, I do know this Sunday will mark the third anniversary of my mommyhood and absence of that obnoxious blinking neon sign.

Thank goodness for that.

Where am I going with this?

I’m not really sure.

If you’re a mother, cherish your children and be grateful you have them.

If you’re not a mother (yet) and you long to be one, channel your energy into loving your own mom.  Your time will come.  It may not be in this lifetime, but it will come.

If you know someone who is struggling to have children, be extra sensitive to them.  Especially on Mother’s Day.

Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

Dallin Newsletter #4 May 7, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Little Man Dallin, My Former Dog Children, Saba , 5comments

This little guy smells like strawberries and brown sugar.

All the time.

In fact, I’m pretty sure your monitor is going to smell like strawberries just by looking at this face.

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Our little Dallin boy is 10 months old this week:

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He is very bashful, but after he warms up he will slobber your cheek with wet kisses.

Come with clean cheeks, leave with dirty ones.

That’s the way he rolls.

My Wish List May 6, 2009

Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Thoughts , 5comments

If I had extra money to throw away each month (to stimulate the economy of course) I would get/do the following:

That said, I’d be happy to take advantage of these services now.

For FREE of course.

Because FREE is in my budget.

One day, in 40 years, when my husband is out of medical school, we’re going to be real people. Who have jobs.

And when that day comes, my life will be just like the movie “What About Bob.”

Because David is 90% sure he is going to specialize in Psychiatry.